Motion Comic Preview: ‘Astonishing X-Men’ Episode Three: Gifted

Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's "Astonishing X-Men" storyline "Gifted" has been making the motion comic rounds for a few weeks now. Episode one made a splash with a debut at Marvel Fest NYC 2009 and episode 2 hit the 'net on schedule two weeks later.

Today episode three arrives on iTunes for $1.99, which may seem steep for a 15 minute motion comic, but is still roughly half the cost of the current series in print form so it's actually a relatively good value.

Episode one is available to stream for free on Hulu if you want to test the waters first. I've been pretty impressed with the animation and voice acting so far. This motion comic really puts the emphasis on motion, making it feel almost traditionally animated.

For fans who have already read the printed series it's pretty rad to see Cassaday's art come alive, but I'd be interested to hear reactions from non-comics fans.

Check out a trailer for episode 3 after the jump to see what you think.